After a devastating two-year drought, manna has finally arrived for the Blinks: Blackpink is dropping their second studio album in September, followed in October with a world tour.
The announcement, made via teaser on July 31, didn’t come as a surprise to most fans, given that the Blackpink members—Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa—had let slip numerous signs that another album was incoming. A press release shared in early July 2022 by their label, YG Entertainment, announced the group would release new music in August, kicking off “a continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year.” The accompanying world tour would be the “largest world tour in the history of a K-pop girl group.” And after releasing their new promotional track “Ready For Love” for the battle royale video game PUBG Mobile, Blackpink seemed poised to declare their return to chart dominance.
Since releasing their first full-length album, THE ALBUM, in October 2020, Blackpink has transformed into one of the most globally ascendant musical acts of the last decade. Each of its four members are now celebrities in their own right, festooned with fashion deals: They’ve each earned luxury brand ambassadorships, with Jisoo signed on at Dior, Jennie at Chanel, Rosé for Yves Saint Laurent, and Lisa with Bulgari and Celine. And while Jennie told ELLE in November 2020 that “fashion definitely empowers us as much as music does,” the group’s musical career is far from sidelined.
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“I feel like I’m recharging myself,” Jisoo told Rolling Stone in May 2022. “My life these days is not too busy, because we’re not actively performing yet. I want to come back with music quickly.” Now, the days of waiting are nearly over.
When does the album come out?
Blackpink has announced the official release date for their second album, titled Born Pink: Sept. 16. at 12 a.m. EST.
What songs are on the album? Which will be singles?
“Pink Venom,” a pre-release single, dropped on Aug. 19 at 12 a.m. EST.
The group then shared the full track list for the album on Sept. 7.
- “Pink Venom”
- “Shut Down”
- “Typa Girl”
- “Yeah Yeah Yeah”
- “Hard to Love”
- “The Happiest Girl”
- “Tally”
- “Ready for Love”
It seems producer and OneRepublic lead vocalist Ryan Tedder is involved in other tracks, having revealed to Good Morning America that “I have worked on Blackpink material. I did write with the girls themselves.”
He added, “I genuinely love Blackpink and so I can’t tell you what’s coming out. I think one or two of my songs have made the album from what I’ve been told. The stuff that I did with them I can just say is very true to their sound. They wrote it so it was very much me just supporting them, their ideas. It’s cool as hell.”
What about the world tour?
Blackpink initially confirmed the journey will begin in October, following the release of Born Pink. In an online press conference timed to the release of “Pink Venom,” Jennie confirmed the group will perform largely new material during the tour. “It’s our first [tour] in a very long time, so we’d like to focus on our originality and include a lot of new songs,” she said.
On August 8, the group revealed the tour will run from October 15, 2022, through June 21, 2023, beginning in Seoul, Korea, before moving onto stops in the United States, Canada, England, France, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, China, Australia, and more. The full list of dates is below:
Oct. 15-16: Seoul
Oct. 25: Dallas
Oct. 29: Houston
Nov. 2: Atlanta
Nov. 6-7: Hamilton
Nov. 10-11: Chicago
Nov. 14-15: Newark
Nov. 19: Los Angeles
Nov. 30: London
Dec. 1: London
Dec. 5: Barcelona
Dec. 8: Cologne
Dec. 11-12: Paris
Dec. 18: Berlin
Dec. 22: Amsterdam
Jan. 7-8: Bangkok
Jan. 13-14: Hong Kong
Jan. 20: Riyadh
Jan. 28: Abu Dhabi
March 4: Kuala Lumpur
March 11: Jakarta
March 18: Kaohsiung
March 25: Manila
May 13: Singapore
June 10-11: Melbourne
June 16-17: Sydney
June 21: Auckland
This post will be updated.
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers news and culture.